Lady Gaga is one of our all-time favorites – favorite singers, favorite actresses, favorite philanthropists, favorite LGBTQ activists. Born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta in March of 1986, she’s inspired millions across her short lifetime already – and she has the Grammys, the Brit Awards, and twelve Guinness World Records to prove it.

The bisexual superstar may be most famously associated with her epic LGBTQ anthem Born This Way, released in February of 2011. The anthem was written to empower women, but let’s make it clear right off the bat – it’s really an anthem that empowers humans – all humans, regardless of, well, everything.

As Forbes describes, “Lyrically, it’s all love yourself whoever you are and ‘don’t be a drag, just be a queen’.”

So let’s talk about philanthropy for a sec – Mother Monster, as she’s been nicknamed, was bullied horribly as a child, but uses that experience to drive her highly vocal push for LGBTQ equality and anti-bullying. She takes every available opportunity to support not just the gay movement, but also the people movement. In 2010 she fiercely stood against the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, and donned the now-famous “meat dress” at the MTV Video Music Awards to make her point about the need for people to stand up for their rights.

We’ll stand up for whatever the Applause singer wants us to – she is, after all, one of the world’s Most Fascinating People.